Hauling oneself off the couch and out of the house can be a challenge even on the best of days. I was tired this morning and didn't feel much like walking, however my walking buddy (sister) and my cute little step-counter bracelet (Fitbit Flex) called me out into the sunshine. It was a beautiful morning.
I met Rachel (and Koty) at North Ponds Park in Webster. After walking our three miles Koty was looking for the car. (Did you know dogs can recognize their owner's vehicle in a parking lot?) When our walk was over I took my blistered feet over to Wegmans and picked up a few groceries.
While traversing the canned foods my cell phone rang and I found my darling daughter on the other end of the line. She was looking for small, handheld garden tools so I bought her a trowel, a cultivator (little rake like thingy), and a transplanter (looked like a skinny trowel to me), and took them over to her house where she was cleaning out the front garden. She did a nice job and the garden looks great, even if gardening never was her favorite thing. You never know, maybe she'll decide she loves it.
I took a walk in the back yard, checked out Dad's wood and tool sheds, and peeked inside the Garden House. I found little bits of Dad tucked in dark corners, perched on shelves, and hanging along walls. But the bits and pieces didn't all stay hidden away. Some spilled out and into the sunshine reminding me that Dad isn't really so very far away.
In the garage, on the cabinets that Dad build almost 50 years ago for the kitchen, was a message from Mom. The cupboard, carried out by the Cabinet Maker when he remodeled the house, still bears a small scrap of paper with a portion of scripture written in Mom's handwriting. Today it made me smile.
:0)
I thought today was to be dark and dreary, but the sun peeked through here and there, and the air was warm. Well, it was warm some of the time. The wind played games and changed direction, randomly casting a cold lake breeze across the yard sending us looking for jackets, and then settling down again causing us to take them off again. An orchard walk was in order when my sister Rachel came over. We walked a small loop across the street with Sabrina and Spence, who decided to be carried, and then a big loop through the orchards behind the house.
One orchard melds into another with hardly a noticeable difference. We walked from the Fox's orchard into Orbaker's hardly telling one from another. In summer one can tell one orchard from another by the length of the grass growing beneath the apple trees, but all the grass short today.
The old apple trees are slowly disappearing, making way for younger, newer varieties. I still find the older trees most fascinating. I love them best, the uniformity in the way they're placed and how they grow. I find them enchanting.
A strip of woods separates one orchard property from another. We walked into almost unknown (to me) territory where remain some old and gnarly apple trees. Tall and reaching upward, once plentiful, they are now rare and endangered. I need to walk back again when the blossoms cover the spreading branches. All too soon this beauty may be gone...
